Patrick Stewart speaks out against government cuts

“It saddens me beyond description that women and children experiencing domestic violence today are being left to deal with fear and abuse on their own – just as my mother was, over sixty years ago.”

As a child, Patrick Stewart witnessed repeated domestic violence against his mother. This week, in a new article for the Guardian, he writes of his anger and dismay at the news that government spending cuts are having a devastating impact on domestic violence services.

With a new report showing that 31% of funding to domestic and sexual violence services has been cut, that 230 women were turned away from refuges in a single day due to lack of resources, and that Refuge has seen cuts to 50% of services, Patrick fears that 40 years of pioneering work by Refuge and other domestic violence charities could be unravelled, leaving abused women no better off today than his mother was over sixty years ago.